Improvement in wood pavements



STATES PATENT QFFICE.

DAVID L. DE GOLYEE, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN WOOD PAVEMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 97,278, dated November30, 1869.

. To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, DAVID L. DE GOLYER,

' of Chicago, in the county of Cook andState setting blocks of preparedwood, saturated with any known composition or material to prevent rot ordecay, endwise upon the roadway, on a proper foundation for support,with spaces, interstices, or cells between said.

blocks, filled with self-ccmenting gravel or broken stone, containing aproper proportion of lime, as hereinafter specified, without theadmixture of tar, pitch, or any artificial ce-' ment.

Heretofore, in all wooden pavements constructed by setting blocks ofwood on end,

with spaces, interstices, or cells between them, said spaces,interstices, or cells have been filled with gravel or broken stone,intermixed with tar, or some similar pitchy matter; but it has beenfound by experiment that the tar or other pitchy matter so used has atendency to cause dry-rot in the wooden blocks, commencing in thecentral portion thereof, and this has proved to be a very serious defectin all wooden pavements now in common use.

In order to remedy this defect, I prepare my blocks of wood, beforesetting them in the pavement, according to the process described inLetters Patent issued to John L. Samuels, bearing date the 1st day ofJanuary, 1867, No. 60,794; or saturate them with any known material, orby any known process, to prevent the wood from decaying, and I fill thespaces, interstices, or cells between them with selfcemen in'g gravel orbroken stone, unmixed with tar or any other pitchy matter or artificialcement.

I set my prepared blocks of wood upon a proper foundation for support,in any of the known modes of setting them in a pavement, so as to leavespaces, interstices, or cells between them to be filled with gravel,broken stone, or similar filling, said spaces, interstices, or cellsextending from the surface clear down to the foundation, or only a partof the way down.

It is well known to persons having experience in the construction ofmacadamized or gravel roads, that gravel containing a considerablequantity of lime, or broken limestone, or other broken stone, intermixedwith limestone-gravel, will, under travel, soon become cemented so as toform a water-tight covering, without the intermixture of any artificialcement. Such self-cementing gravel will often be found in gravel-bankssuitable for use as taken from the bank, and will be readily recognizedby any one having experience in the construction of gravel tnrnpikes. Itshould be freefrom loam, and not contain much clay; but a properproportion of sand will not be injurious. In fact, any self-cementinggravel suitable for making a good gravel turnpike will answer thepurpose.

I fill the spaces, interstices, or cells between the wooden blocks withself-cementing gravel or broken stone, as above described, and thencover thesurface of the pavement all over with said self-cementinggravel to the depth of about two inches, which covering should remainthereon from one to three months.

When the blocks of wood have been saturated with any suitable materialfor preventing rot or decay, the use of tar or any similar pitchymaterial intermixed with the gravel or broken stone will be an absoluteinjury, as it will tend'to produce dry-rot in the wood, and,furthermore, tar will not adhere to Wood thus prepared.

I do not claim any new mode of setting wooden blocks in a pavement; nordo I claim, broadly, filling the spaces, interstices, or cells betweenthe-blocks with clean gravel or broken stone; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is,

A pavement composed of wooden blocks saturated with any known materialand by any known process for preventing rot or decay, set on end upon aproper foundation, with spaces, interstices, or cells between themfilled with self-cementing gravel or broken stone, as above described,without the admixture of tar or any other pitchy matter or artificialcement.

DAVID L. DE GOLYER.

